Long before Meghan Markle fell in love with Prince Harry and became the Duchess of Sussex we know today, one former ESPN host has revealed he had hoped to find romance with the star, but things didn’t quite go to plan. Former ESPN host Ryen Russillo once slid into Meghan’s DM’s after running into each other while playing a game of celebrity flag football, but despite his high hopes, Russillo, now 49, revealed that Meghan wasn’t nearly as thrilled about the prospect during Super Bowl weekend 2014, reports UsWeekly.
Recalling their meeting on The Bill Simmons podcast, Ryen revealed: “We played in a celebrity flag football game together and it was all of the [ Sports Illustrated ] swimsuit models. So, nobody was really paying any attention to Markle.”
The game featured a host of former NFL stars and famous faces including The Vampire Diaries actress Nina Dobrev, Black Panther star Michael B Jordan, and Sports Illustrated models like Chrissy Teigen, Nina Agdal and Hannah Davis, meaning Meghan was in some impressive company for the fun-filled match.
“I was like, ‘That’s my lane. She’s probably doubting herself a little bit right now,’” Russillo remembered. “She’s never been more obtainable.”
The game took place just before Suits season 4 premiered, and was around two years before Meghan first started dating her future husband Prince Harry. Following the conclusion of the game however, Russillo decided to shoot his shot and send the future-Duchess a cheeky DM.
“It was a very soft sell,” Russillo explained. “It was, ‘Hey, I know the new season of Suits is coming out if you ever want to come on the show to promote it.’ It was really professional.”
Meghan Markle and Nina Dobrev participate in DIRECTV’s 8th Annual Celebrity Beach Bowl
Despite the professional sell however, he did admit he had an ulterior motive at play adding: “It was like a gauging of interest,” he said. “Like, if I got an emoji back, who knows?”
Not long after sending the DM, Meghan did respond to the invitation, but it wasn’t quite the warm reception Russillo might have hoped for. “It was ice cold,” Russillo recalled. DM. “It was, ‘Oh, I don’t know anything about sports, but thanks for the offer.’”
Although no budding romance ensued from the celebrity flag football game, Meghan did however walk away with a lifelong friendship, as it was the very same match that saw her meet and befriend her new BFF Serena Williams.
“When Serena Williams barrelled in my direction this past February at an event, nails done, hair done, everything did, I’ll be honest and say I looked behind me to see who she was running to. It was Serena Williams, after all,” Markle wrote on her blog The Tig in August 2014.
Markle continued: “We hit it off immediately, taking pictures, laughing through the flag football game we were both playing in, and chatting not about tennis or acting, but about all the good old fashioned girly stuff. So began our friendship. She quickly became a confidante I would text when I was traveling, the friend I would rally around for her tennis matches, and the down to earth chick I was able to grab lunch with just a couple weeks ago in Toronto.”
